


Cognition

by HanaHimus



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Gen, No P4 or P3 spoilers so it's safe to read, P5 Arena Setting, Persona 5 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-19 04:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11889906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanaHimus/pseuds/HanaHimus
Summary: Airi is lost in what seems to be the resurgence of Mementos and meets the last thing she would want to see.





	Cognition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AristoMercu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AristoMercu/gifts).



> This is a little "congrats on 100 chapters!" thing for AristoMercu! It's not long and I couldn't resist some P3 even though she hasn't played it, so I kept anything Aigis related as vague as could be!
> 
> Notes:  
> -I'd expect the P5 cast to go back to initials like the P4 cast did in P4 Arena/Ultimax, so I'm glad I didn't need Airi's ultimate for this haha  
> -Marie's Persona wasn't seen, but she'd likely be using Kaguya like her DLC in Ultimax  
> -Aigis reminds Airi of someone else because her Persona and her aren't actually of the Aeon. I won't spoil what it is, but The Answer is out there ;)  
> -The Cognitive Airi is probably more of a fake than a real one, like the Fake Shadows in P4 Arena Ultimax. Morgana and Futaba are also in reference to what happened to Teddie and Rise in P4 Arena

Airi was worried and had been for a while. As soon as the group had discovered the resurgence of the Metaverse (more specifically Mementos), along with the disappearances of Morgana and Futaba, how could she not? It had only become worse when they went into the area and found Morgana and Futaba making this into some sort of “fight.”

A fight that dragged not only their fellow Phantom Thieves into it, but others as well. An entire group of people (including the idol Risette and one of the women Futaba had mentioned as being Pink Argus in her favorite show). That didn’t even touch on the fact there were two girls who looked to be about her age, but were in many ways robotic.

It just wasn’t making sense, what did these people have to do with this all? It wasn’t like they could have Personas, could they? There had been so many and everyone in the Phantom Thieves had been handpicked, in a way. Had there been more chosen by the false god than she thought?

“Look at you, trying to find an answer to everything.” She paused when she heard a voice that sounded just like hers. “Well, I guess I am perfect, after all.”

She turned and standing there was someone who looked just like her. Her Shujin uniform was perfect, her hair a braid across her shoulder. She stood straight, hands clasped in front of her. Her face looked almost too perfect, the smile fake.

“Who…?”

“I mean, we are, aren’t we? Everyone knows we are. Kind, hard working, smart…” She laughed, ignoring Airi’s question. “I mean, everyone’s an idiot compared to us, to me. They need me to keep going.”

It hit Airi then, they were in Mementos. The only thing this could be was a Shadow or a Cognitive version of herself. Due to Jeanne being with her, she knew it couldn’t be a Shadow born of distorted desires. It had to be a Cognitive her.

“I’m stronger than many, too. I’m just so useful!” Cognitive Airi smiled at her. “So elegant, so graceful. I could do what anyone else could, but ten times better.”

Was this how people saw her? As a perfect person who was almost too happy to be seen that way? And it wasn’t just one person, like that disturbing version Kamoshida had had of her. This was the collective thoughts of Tokyo… Enough people saw her like this for this to be the case…?

“N-no!” She shook her head, gripping her scythe. This couldn’t be how she was seen.

“Is there a problem? Isn’t it great that it’s this way?” Cognitive Airi laughed, hand to her mouth. “No one can get rid of us, they know they need us.”

“I’m not like that, no!” She shook her head. This was almost too much for her. She wasn’t like that, how could people think she was? Did people see her kindness as an act…?

She was shaking, unable to think straight as she fell to her knees. No, this couldn’t be happening… If people saw her this way, what did she do? She wasn’t sure there was anything she could do. If people saw her like this…

“Why are you acting like that?” A somewhat bored voice spoke. “Who cares what other people think.”

She looked up and a woman dressed in somewhat professional clothing walked over, a blue bag hung over her shoulder. She stood between Airi and her other self as if this was boring her.

“This is just how people see you, right? Who cares that much about what others think?” She was still talking as if this wasn’t a big deal. “I’m more of a brat to people than I thought, but who cares? I’m me and that’s what matters.”

“What do…?”

The woman turned to look at her, her grey eyes looking over Airi. “Isn’t it the same for you?”

“Oh, too bad.” The Cognitive Airi sighed. “You’re not going to just give in like her? There’s only one thing to do then.”

The woman pulled Airi to her feet as the Cognitive version of her threw a hand up into the air with almost too much grace. Before she could ask what was going on, the Cognition smiled and began to speak.

“Bring on the ring!”

Soon enough four pillars of light appeared and trapped the two in with the Cognition. Airi was confused… Why was this happening…?

“Do you think you can fight it, or do you need me to?” The woman looked back at her and rose an eyebrow.

Airi bit her lip, there was a chance this woman had no way to protect herself… “I’ll do it!”

“Just like us! Taking a stand so others will rely on us.” The Cognition laughed a bit and smiled at her. “Good job.”

“Tch…” Airi gripped the scythe again and ran forward. She wasn’t going to listen anymore…!

“Just go for it, ignore what she says.” The woman called out to her, intense as could be. “Knock her down!”

Airi nodded a bit and, soon enough, the Cognition was defeated. She smiled at Airi and, soon enough, disappeared along with the pillars. What was that all, why was she so easy to defeat when ready to fight…?

“Well, we should go. Margaret probably wants to know where I wandered off to.” The woman fixed the bag on her shoulder and turned to walk away.

“Wait!” Airi ran up next to her. “W-who are you?”

“Mariko…” She sighed and shrugged a bit. “You should find your friends. If it’s anything like the last time something like this happened, it could be bad.”

“Something like this…? What happened?”

“...Heard at first it was just a girl thrown into the TV World, but it ended in what could’ve been the end of the world…” Mariko shook her head and frowned. “If there’s any chance of that happening again, you should try to do something.”

Airi followed after her and frowned. There was something about Mariko that made her want to learn more, something that made her feel she needed to speak to her more. She wasn’t sure what it was, and she needed to find out what it was.

“You feel familiar!” That was weird to say, wasn’t it?

Mariko turned to look at her. “Huh? I guess I get what you mean…”

“Oh, good…” Airi was still a bit red in the face. “But, uh, since there’s...something that makes you feel familiar, shouldn’t we go together?”

“Do you want to?” She rose an eyebrow.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.” She did her best to ignore the fact her Cognition would’ve told her she was trying to butt her nose in where it wasn’t needed.

“I’d be fine, but...sure.” Mariko shrugged a bit and started walking, though a bit slower this time. “I mean--”

“Ah, aren’t you Marie-san?” Mariko and Airi came to the stop at the voice.

They turned and standing there was a blonde woman, a smile on her face. If Airi was right about this woman, she’d been one of the ones who looked like a robot more than a human. Her body seemed to be made of white cloth, she had no ears, and her joints were visible.

“You’re that Aigis lady who showed up in Inaba forever ago…” Mariko frowned, crossing her arms.

“Yes, I am. It’s nice to actually meet you. Yu-san told me many things about you.”

“H-huh?! L-like I care about that!” Mariko went a bit red and looked away. “A-and it’s Mariko now.”

“Oh!” She blinked a few times before smiling. “My apologies, then.”

Airi frowned, there was something about this woman that was familiar too, but it was odd. She felt there was a link with the two of them, but that wasn’t it. There had to be someone else she was reminding her of, if she could just pin it down…

“Now’s not the time for this.” Mariko shook her head. “Come on, we need to figure out what’s going on.”

Aigis nodded. “Agreed, there’s only so many foes one can face without wanting to reach the end of the next journey as fast as possible.”

Airi frowned, she was talking like this was just another Tuesday for her or something… But she couldn’t question it, the two were already walking away. Looked like she had no choice but to follow and hope for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, congrats again AristoMercu, I hope this is alright and that Airi seems to be IC! I'm so bad at writing others OCs orz


End file.
